Willakd b



wm Em TS SE T W a d 0 m o W Patented Dec. 17, 1895.

. INVENTOH ATTORNEY.

U ITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

WILLARD BjsrEvEns, on NEW YORK, n. r.

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 551,413, dated December17, 1895. Application filedMarch 2, 1895. Serial No. 540,295. (Nomodel.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLARD B. STEVENS, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city of New York, in the county of New York andState of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBottle-Stoppers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of stoppers thatare placed in bottle-necks to prevent the refilling of the bottles.

The object of my invention is to provide a new and improved stopper ofthat kind which is simplein construction, can readily be placed in abottle-neck and firmly secured in the same and which thoroughly preventspourin g liquid into the bottle after the stopper has been inserted.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts anddetails, as will be fully described and set forth hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, andin which like letters of reference indicate like parts in all the views,Figure l is a side view of my improved stopper in the bottle-neck,showing the wooden fastening-ring before the same has been expanded.Figs. 2, 3, and 4 show modified constructions of the stopper in a bottlencck.

The stopper is constructed with a head A, fitting snugly in the neck 13of the bottle and having a central aperture a, through which the liquidcan be poured out of the bottle. A guard-cup C, made integral with thehead and provided with a series of apertures or slots O, extendsdownward from the under side of said head, as shown.

The bottom annular edge of the head A is rounded or beveled, as shown,and a short distance above said. rounded edge the head is provided withthe exterior annular groove D, which when the head is placed in thebottleneck registers with an interior annular groove E in thebottle-neck, the bottom of said groove being rounded or beveled oif, asshown.

A ring 1* of compressed wood is sprung into the groove D in the head A,the thickness of said ring being such that it does not project beyondthe periphery of said head, as shown in Fig. 1, so as not to interferewith inserting the head into the bottleneck B.

After the head has been inserted in such a manner that the grooves D andE register, and the liquid contained in the bottle saturates the ring Fof compressed wood, the latter swells and expands and fills both groovesD and E, thereby securely holding the stopper in the bottle-neck, asshown in Fi 2.

The bottom of the groove E is rounded oil in the manner shown anddescribed for the purpose of guiding the wooden. ring F when it expandsinto said groove, for if the bottom of the groove were not rounded citthe ring might be jammed against the inside of the neck and in that casewould not pass into the groove.

The head may be provided with a cage G, extending downward from the sameand which, with the head, is inserted into the bottle, as shown in Fig.1, or the head may be constructed without said cage, as shown in theremaining figures. At the bottom of said head a seat for a valve H isformed or said sea-t maybe formed by an annular interior projection I ofthe bottle-neck. The valve 11 is approximately in the shape of aninverted cone exteriorly rounded off at the wider end, so as to have aball-bearing on its seat. From the bottom of said valve H a series ofradial wings J project,which increase in width from their upper to theirlower ends, the weight of said wings being greater than that of thevalve, so as to hold the valve on its seat.

Vhen the bottle is tilted to pour out its contents, the valve H islifted from its seat and the wings J serveto seat the valve when thebottle is righted again. At the same time the wings J do not interferein the least with the ready flow of the liquid, even when the edges ofsaid wings rest against the bottom of the cage G or the bottom of theannular flange or collar 1 in the bottleneck.

As shown in Fig. 3, the valve Il may have an iiiverted conical part itfitting on the valveseat and. a central upward conical projection h,whiclnwhen valve opens, passes into an inverted conical recess L in theclosed bottom of the guard-neck G. \Vhen the bottle is righted again thevalve is guided and directed properly upon its seat by said projection71. and recess L. The projection it also serves for guiding liquid thatis poured into the bottle toward the rim or seat part of the valveHaving thus described inyinvention, what,

I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a bottle having an interior annular groove inits neck directly below the upper end of the same, the bottom of whichgroove is rounded off, of a stopper fitting in the bottle neck andprovided with an exterior annular groove a short distance below itsupper end and of a wooden retainin g ring located within the said twogrooves.

2. The combination with a bottle of a head held in the neck of the same,which neck has a downwardly projecting guard cup, an upwardly openingvalve below said guard cup, which valve is provided with downwardlyprojecting radial wings, increasing in width from their upper to theirlower ends, the upper ends of said wings being permanently fixeddirectly to the bottom part of the valve, substantially as herein shownand described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname, in presence of two witnesses, this 1st day of March, 1895.

WILLARD l3. EVEN'S.

Vitnesses:

OSCAR F. GUNZ, N. M. FLANNERY.

